Binturong is primarily arboreal, but does descend to the ground; in fact the number of camera-trap photographs of this species across its range reveals a level of ground activity higher than had previously been unexpected for this species. Also, the species has been caught in baited live traps set on the ground (Grassman et al. 2005, Chutipong et al. 2014). The species is heavy and ponderous (adults can reach over 20 kg), and where more agile arboreal animal species could leap between trees, it must descend to the ground to go from one tree to another (Than Zaw et al. 2008).

The ecology of this species is poorly known and might vary between areas; information about diel activity is conflicting. Grassman et al. (2005) noted it to be crepuscular and nocturnal,  and targeted small carnivore surveys at a logging concession in Sarawak, Borneo (Malaysia), recorded the species only during the early morning and during the night (Mathai et al. 2010). By contrast, Nettelbeck (1997) found it often to be active during the day, and many other day-time field sightings have been made incidentally during forest research (e.g. Lambert 1990, Datta 1999, Coudrat et al. 2014, Chutipong et al. 2014, Sayam Chowdhury pers. comm. 2015). Activity patterns have also been described as cathemeral (Than Zaw et al. 2008).

In Phu Kieo Wildlife Sanctuary, Thailand, Grassman et al. (2005) found that males have a mean annual range size of 6.2 km² with a mean overlap of 35%. A single female Binturong tracked in Thung Yai Naresuan Wildlife Sanctuary had a home range of 6.9 km² (Chutipong et al. 2015). The species is thought to be predominantly frugivorous. There is a detailed observation of a group of Binturongs feeding on figs Ficus over several nights in North-east India (Murali et al. 2013), and many of the incidental observations of the species are of animals in fruiting trees (e.g. Lambert 1990, Nettelbeck 1997, Datta 1999, Low 2011).

In Lao PDR, recent records are from extensive evergreen forest, (Duckworth et al. 1999). In the Philippines, the species is found in primary and secondary lowland forest, including grassland-forest mosaic from sea level to 400 m (Rabor 1986, Esselstyn et al. 2004). It was recorded in secondary forest, that had been logged in the 1970s, and which surrounds a palm estate, in Malaysia in 2000–2001 by Azlan (2003). Mathai et al. (2010) recorded the species in a logging concession, although never amid active logging; all records were from patches of forest with medium to high relative levels of contiguity. In Sabah, Malaysian Borneo, the Binturong was camera-trapped in all surveys of forest areas throughout the state, including primary and logged forest, but was not detected in oil palm plantations.  In one survey it was detected at over 1,000 m a.s.l. (A.J. Hearn, J. Ross and D.W. Macdonald unpublished data). Elsewhere in Borneo it has been recorded down almost to sea-level (e.g. Sabangau National Park, Central Kalimantan; Semiadi et al. in prep.). Meijaard et al. (2008) classified the species as tolerant of moderate intensity logging, and it has been recorded from logged forest on Borneo (Samejima et al. 2012). In Bangladesh the few confirmed records are from hill evergreen forest in the north-east and south-east (Chakma 2015, Hasan Rahman pers. comm. 2015). In Java the species has been observed in a mosaic open forest landscape, interspersed with agriculture and non-native forest plantations, where, in the several years of survey, there was only a single record of hunting of nocturnal mammals (Rode-Margono et al. 2014); the species is never (or only exceptionally rarely) recorded in such landscapes in northern South-east Asia, which are invariably hunted heavily, perhaps explaining this difference. There are no records of this species from within blocks of monoculture plantations such as palm oil or rubber.

The litter size is typically one to three, with a gestation of about 92 days, reaching adult size in one year; individuals may live as long as 18 years (Lekagul and McNeely 1977). Litter size in captivity is one to six, most commonly two. Observations in captivity have shown that copulation usually takes place in trees.

The Binturong is widespread in South and South-east Asia occurring from eastern Nepal, Bangladesh, north-east India and southern China through mainland and island South-east Asia, south-east to Java (Indonesia) and occurring also on the Philippine islands of Calauit and Palawan (Corbet and Hill 1992, Heaney et al. 1998, Choudhury 2013). In North-east India it is known from all the states, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, West Bengal (northern parts), Sikkim and Tripura, being widespread in several of them (Choudhury et al. 2013). The species has been camera-trapped in Royal Manas National Park, Bhutan (Tempa et al. 2011), and is predicted to be present in other southern parts of Bhutan, where suitable habitat remains largely intact (A. U. Choudhury pers. comm. 2015). In Bangladesh there are confirmed sightings from the north-east (Tania Khan per Hasan Rahman pers. comm. 2015), the Chittagong Hill Tracts were it has been camera-trapped (Chakma 2015), and in Cox’s Bazar district, south-east Bangladesh, where an animal was photographed (Sayam Chowdhury per Hasan Rahman pers. comm. 2015). Eastern Nepal represents the known western limit of the species’s geographic range, although no recent confirmed records could be traced (Sanjan Thapa pers. comm. 2015, Yadav Ghimirey pers. comm. 2015); but recent suitable survey in this part of the country has been very limited and the species is considered likely to persist there. It occurred, at least formerly, in Guangxi and Yunnan provinces of southern China, but there are few recent records, none outside Yunnan (Wang 2003, Lau et al. 2010, C. Huang pers. comm. 2015). It potentially occurred historically in Singapore although there are no known records from the country (Chua et al. 2012). There are no confirmed records from Brunei, but this is likely to be because of poor survey effort and not because of any ecological factors (Semiadi et al. in prep.).

It occurs from sea level up to 3,000 m a.s.l., although it is thought to live at higher densities in lowland forest habitats (i.e. below 1,000 m) (see the Habitats and Ecology section, below)

Stricter enforcement of legislation against poaching, wildlife trade, habitat degradation and deforestation is required to conserve Binturong. In India it has been on CITES Appendix III since 1989 (CITES 2015). It has also been listed under Schedule I of The Wild Life (Protection) Act of India; this gives the highest conservation status to any species. In Borneo, it is included on Schedule 2 of Sabah’s Wildlife Conservation Enactment 1997, under which hunting and collection is allowed with appropriate license issued by the Sabah Wildlife Department, on Part II of the First Schedule of the Sarawak Wildlife Protection Ordinance 1998, and on Indonesia’s Government Regulation No 7. In Brunei, however, the Binturong is not legally protected. In Bangladesh it has complete protection under wildlife protection law of 2012. It is protected in Malaysia, Thailand (under WARPA 2003), and in Viet Nam (Appendix 1B; Decree 32/2006). In the Philippines, the Environmental Legal Assistance Center has been involved in controlling and enforcing wildlife laws. The species is listed as Critically Endangered on the China Red List.

Binturong occurs in many protected areas spread across its current range; however, the effectiveness of these reserves at protecting this species is highly variable: it has not been targeted as a conservation focus, or indeed even surveyed for, in many protected areas, and most of the confirmed records are from general surveys or by-catch from surveys aimed at other species. Detailed radio-tracking studies, combined with watching to pay particular attention to ground-level use, would aid, greatly, understanding of this species’s ecology and therefore (i) a far more confident assessment of whether the lack of camera-trap records from some areas is a genuine reflection of decline/absence, and not of ineffective camera-trap placement, and (ii) more effectively targeted conservation.